Back to this subject of Range-of-Motion vs Time-under-Tension.... I guess it has always been my common practice to get the very best range of motion in my reps possible, for as long as possible. When I start out with lighter weights.... this seems to be very easy to do. however, I dont get the same kind of pump with lighter weights as fast, so I can only assume that the purpose of my warm up sets is to simply stretch, initiate blood flow to the targeted muscle groups and to establish a good mind-muscle connection in preparation for my working sets. I think that most athletes approach this in a similar fashion. The question becomes, what to do with range of motion, tempo and time-under-tension in heavier, working sets. At the beginning of most movements and at the very end, there seems to be more pressure on the moving joints... especially when we are talking about heavy weights and vulnerable ligaments in the Knee, hips and shoulders. A majority of the strong guys I see in the gym seem to shorten their reps to a certain range when the weight goes up. In other words, they dont go all of the way down and they dont go all of the way up. This technique presents two obvious advantages: less stress on the joints and more-continuous tension on the muscle belly.... but, what are the disadvantages? Most of these same guys seem to be the ones with frequent and chronic injuries.... Do shorter reps develop only part of the muscle? Do shorter reps lead to an imbalance between muscle strength and tendon strength? Does it effect the maximum pump you are able to get from the exercise? There are a lot of theories on this... and I guess it depends on your training goals. I tend to work based on feel almost as much as I follow a plan when I walk into a gym...... If my shoulders hurt lower a barbell all the way to my chest, I will simply limit how far I lower it to about 2 inches from touching..... My goals involve both building lean muscle and enhanced athletic performance.....Incorporating some limited range of motion has been effective for me, but only when I lower the weight slowly, controlling the negatives. For my concentric movements, I focus on getting strong, fluid lifts with follow through... keeping the muscle under tension for as long as possible, and developing explosive strength without risking unnecessary injury. When Dorian Yates trained, his main goal was muscle growth.... he used to write about doing multiple warm up sets, leading up to one, heavy working set.... Hed get as many good reps as he could and would continue the set for as long as possible with partial movements to keep the muscles under tension. Whatever he actually did.. seems to have worked well..lol Bottom line... I feel as if full range of motion most likely gives you the best chance for full, balance development with the least amount of risk. Shorter reps, strategically used, may have their advantages, but you must be careful. Best of luck #partialreps #timeundertension #fitnessmotivation #shreditjoe
Posted on: Mon, 22 Sep 2014 16:41:19 +0000
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